Breakout
by Alexx18
Summary: A mass breakout 23 years after the defeat of Voldemort puts Lily, Albus, and James Potter in grave danger. The death eaters want revenge, and Harry's children are their first target.
1. Chapter 1

"Mum! We're going to be late!" shouted Lily.

"No, we will not be late, dear. Just go sit in the car, I'll be there in just a moment," replied Ginny, followed by a cough.

Ginny had been suffering from a cold for the past week, and her children were only increasing the pain of her headache while she scanned their rooms to be sure they hadn't forgotten anything. Ginny was upstairs while her children were downstairs, but she could still here the racket they were making very clearly.

"Mum! Where's my broom?" shouted Albus.

"She put it in the trunk already!" said Lily.

"I just looked, it's not there!" said Albus, rather frustrated.

"Ha, looking for something?"

And along came James, loftily walking by with Albus' broom over his shoulder.

"MUM! JAMES HAS MY BROOM!"

"We are going to be late!"

"Ha, ha! You can't reach it!"

It was September 1st, one of the most stressful days of the year.

"SHUT IT! ALL OF YOU!"

For the first time that morning, there was silence. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she took one last glance around Albus' bedroom, and began to walk downstairs. As she walked, she could hear her husband.

"Lily, we're not going to be late. Calm down. Albus, there's no need to shout. James, give Albus his broom right now. If you take it one more time, I will snap _your _broom in half."

Ginny chuckled as she grabbed her purse. Harry would never snap that broom in half. It cost them a fortune. As she arrived at the front door, Harry was waiting for her.

"They're getting in the car now. How are you feeling?" said Harry.

"Just grand," said Ginny sarcastically, searching her purse for her keys.

"Accio keys," said Harry, and the keys flew out of Ginny's purse and in to his hands.

"I'll drive," said Harry, and he kissed Ginny on the cheek and began walking toward the car.

"Ugh, how are the holidays over already?" complained James from the back seat of the car.

"James! Aren't you excited? I'm _so _excited!" exclaimed Lily, who was squished in between James and Albus.

"Yeah, well you don't have to take your O.W.L.s this year," grumbled Albus.

"Oh, Albus, you'll do fine. Besides, that's a long way off," said Ginny.

"Mum, are we going to be late?" asked Lily.

Ginny struggled to keep her voice level as she said, "No, Lily. Be patient."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so excited!"

"Why!" asked Albus and James at the same time.

"Because, I'm a third year! I get to go to Hogsmeade!"

"Really, Lily, it's not that exciting," said James, frowning out the window as he saw they had arrived at the train station.

Once they were on platform nine and three quarters, the five Potters made their way to the Weasley family.

"Harry! How are you?"

Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend, was leading his wife and two kids toward the Potters.

"Ginny, you look awful," said Ron.

"You're lucky I'm out of energy right now, Ron. Otherwise, I'd show you what awful really looks like," said Ginny, her voice coming out scratchy and congested.

This made Harry think of Ginny's uncanny ability to produce dreadful curses, and put a comforting arm around her. Hermione began examining Ginny's symptoms and suggesting spells and potions, but Harry was no longer listening to the conversation. A series of signs posted along the wall had caught his attention. He jumped when he heard the warning whistle.

"...But make sure you don't mix it with another potion before it's been four hours. You'd be covered in hives," finished Hermione.

Parents all over were suddenly rushing around and saying their goodbyes. Harry looked at his children. Lily's cheeks were rosy with excitement, her long, red hair matched her mother's. Albus, who was entering his fifth year at Hogwarts, could've been Harry's fifth-year clone. His green eyes and messy black hair were exactly like Harry's. And then there was James, grumpy as ever about returning to school. He had his mother's blue eyes, but is father's hair.

"Have fun, sweetheart. Make sure you write to us. And be careful in Hogsmeade!" Ginny said to Lily, kissing her on the forehead.

"And do be careful in Care of Magical Creatures. Do as Hagrid says," said Harry.

"Oh, it was one little burn, big deal," said Lily smiling.

"Don't forget, one of you needs to send us your quidditch schedule. Your mum and I would like to make it to at least one match."

Harry and Ginny finished saying their goodbyes and sent their children on to the train along with Rose and Hugo, Ron and Hermione's children. All except James, who Harry had pulled aside.

"James, you're sixteen. I don't want you to worry but I think you're old enough to know what's going on," said Harry, talking quickly and quietly to his son.

"See those signs over there? There's been a breakout in Azkaban. Now, it could mean nothing, but there hasn't been a breakout since the war. I need you to be extremely careful. Don't get me wrong, Hogwarts is safe, and I trust that school more than anywhere else with your safety. But if anything, anything at all seems strange you need to let me know straight away. Understand?"

James nodded, eyes wide.

"Don't worry, though. It could be nothing. I'll let you know as I find out more. Take care of your brother and sister."

The two of them said one last goodbye, and James hopped on to the train, his mind reeling. Harry turned his head to look back at the signs. Ron was looking at them as well. He turned to face Harry, and the two of them looked at one another for a moment, the same fear spread across their faces.

It wasn't long before Hermione and Ginny directed their attention to the signs as well. Both of their faces were coated with fear identical to Ron and Harry's as they saw the ten, sneering death eater's faces looking back at them.


	2. Chapter 2

As James walked slowly on to the train, which had just started moving, he noticed a beautiful girl a little further down the train. She had long, brown hair and matching warm, brown eyes. She beamed at him as she rushed to him for a hug.

"James! It's been so long!" she said.

"Too long, Liv. How are you?" he asked, returning her hug.

"I am just perfect now that I can finally see you! Not that I don't enjoy your letters, but I can't believe I only got to see you once over the holiday!" she exclaimed, and grasped his hand as she led him to a compartment.

James sat across from his girlfriend Olivia and held her hand on the table between them. He gazed out the window as Olivia spoke of classes and her friends' new tans and haircuts. Eventually, Olivia realized James wasn't paying much attention.

"James? Is everything alright?" asked Olivia.

James looked at Olivia with worry. He'd known her ever since they'd been placed in the same boat to Hogwarts his first year. They'd become best friends, and at the beginning of their fifth year, they'd become slightly more than friendly with one another. He knew that he could tell her anything. So, he told her what his father had told him before he got on the train.

Olivia was frowning, her face pinched with worry.

"How many broke out? Who are they?" she asked.

"I don't know, he didn't really have time to tell me. He actually didn't give me much information at all. I don't even get why he was worried. I mean, I'm sure there was a reason, but he sure didn't share it with me," said James.

Olivia nodded, but now it was her turn to gaze out the window. She was thinking hard about something, and James could tell.

"What is it, Liv?" he asked her.

Olivia turned to look and James and said, "It's just...what if they're Death Eaters?"

"So what if they are? What difference does that make?" asked James, confused.

"James, your dad put all of them in Azkaban. Even the ones who weren't captured immediately after the war, he helped hunt the rest of them down. They've been stuck in Azkaban for like twenty years because of him."

When James still looked confused, Olivia looked down at her hands and continued.

"Those Death Eaters have been sitting in Azkaban for years, thinking about how much they hate your father for sending them there, and what they'd do to him if they got out. Well, now they're out."

James looked scared for a moment, but then smiled.

"He beat them once, he'll beat them again. They don't stand a chance against my dad, especially when his auror buddies are with him," said James.

Olivia's frown did not falter.

"I think they know that, James," she said.

"I don't understand what you're getting at," said James, frustrated.

"To hurt someone, it doesn't always require physical pain. Your father is one of the greatest wizards of our time, and those Death Eaters know that. They're horrible, disgusting people, but they're not stupid. They know they don't stand a chance against your father. They'd settle for the next best thing," said Olivia, and she looked away from her hands to stare right at James.

James' stomach clenched with a horrible pang as realization hit him.

* * *

"Which ones?" asked Hermione, rushing up to the signs along with her friends.

"Yaxley, Dolohov, Rowle, Macnair...there's ten of them!" said Harry, running his fingers through is jet black hair.

"Harry, they might not be planning anything. They escaped, maybe that's all they wanted to do," said Ron hopefully.

"I don't think so. For them to escape, they'd have needed outside help. Death Eaters are all selfish. They wouldn't help one another unless they gained from it as well. They have to be all focusing on something. They're working together," said Ginny, staring at the sign picturing Rowle, a blond, burly man.

"Are they after Harry?" asked Ron.

"It's not me I'm worried about, Ron," said Harry, "it's the kids."

Ron gasped and turned to look at the train, as if he could chase after it and pull Hugo and Rose out of it.

"Ron, they'll be safe at Hogwarts. Besides, I think the Potters have a little more to worry about than we do," said Hermione, placing a hand on Ron's arm.

"All the same, I'd keep a close eye on them. They might be in danger as well," said Harry.

"Should...should we tell them?" asked Ginny.

"I told James a little. I don't think Albus and Lily need to know anything just yet. They shouldn't have to be worrying about Death Eaters while they're trying to go to school," said Harry.

"We did," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

"Exactly. I know how that feels. I don't want my kids to have to deal with it too," said Harry, staring at the photo of Yaxley sneering at them.

"So what do we do?" asked Ginny, looking at Harry.

"I...I don't know."

* * *

"So...so...Death Eaters...are after us?" stammered James.

"We don't know that James! But it's a possibility. I think that's all your dad was trying to say. Be alert, but don't freak out," said Olivia.

James took a deep breath and nodded, but he still couldn't shake all the thoughts in his head that had just appeared. Lily, his thirteen year old, tiny sister, would be wandering around Hogsmeade with Death Eaters on the loose. It would be so easy...

"James, what you're doing right now would be classified as freaking out. Please calm down," said Olivia.

"But...Lily and Albus! They don't even know!" said James.

"And your dad was right in doing it that way. They're young, those aren't things they can handle thinking about right now. You're the oldest, James. Set the example. Your dad just wanted to make a few things known so that you could check on your brother and sister and little more often than usual. That's all it was. He said himself that it could be nothing. He just wanted you to be on the lookout," said Olivia, calmly.

James shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. She was right. She had to be. Everything was going to be fine. He smiled, leaned forward and kissed her.

"I missed you, Liv," he said.

"I missed you too," said Olivia, beaming at him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rose, would you mind passing the gravy?" asked Albus, hastily covering his plate in food.

Rose did as she was asked and began to look around. The Great Hall was flooded with students. Some were shoving food in to their mouths like Albus, others were scurrying around saying hello to their friends that they didn't see on the train. When she spotted Hagrid taking his seat at the staff table, she waved, to which he smiled and did the same. Albus noticed the exchange and nodded at Hagrid as well.

"It's a shame we don't have room for his class this year. It was always a good laugh," said Albus.

"Yes, well, I think it's best. After all, did you see the burns Lily got last year? They were terrible! Those horrible skrewts...Yes, it's definitely best," said Rose, shaking her head.

"Hey! Hagrid's great! You know that he'd never want anyone hurt, especially Lily," said Albus defensively.

"I completely agree. I'm very fond of Hagrid, I just prefer visiting him to taking his classes with those dangerous creatures," replied Rose.

"Albus! There you are!"

Albus turned to see his older brother standing above him.

"Oh, come on James, not now. We just got here," said Albus.

The two brothers loved each other, but that was never something they'd care to admit. Even though they were only a year apart, James spend most of his time picking on Albus, and he was not looking forward to it one bit.

"What? Hey, where's Lily?" asked James.

Albus looked confused.

"Um...I don't know, probably with her friends."

Rose looked at James curiously. He was speaking to Albus, but looking around the room urgently.

"Ah! There she is! See you later," said James, and hurried away to speak to Lily.

Rose's eyes followed him all the way to the other end of the table, where Lily was sitting next to Hugo and some of their friends. Rose turned to look at Albus, only to see that he was no longer eating, but looking at her, his face reflecting utter confusion.

* * *

"Hey, Lily," said James, walking behind his sister.

"Hey, James," said Lily, looking just as confused as Albus.

All of the confusion was being caused due to the fact that James' first plan when he got to school was never, ever to talk to his younger siblings. He usually found his friends and girlfriend, and he didn't bother to speak to his siblings until later that night in the common room, or maybe even the next day. James didn't particularly feel "cool" when talking to younger kids, especially if they were his siblings. And James was all about being cool.

"Just checking to see that you made it off the train alright. I guess I'll see you later," said James.

Lily froze and turned slowly to face her brother.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," said James, not really looking at Lily.

"James! Over here!"

James turned to see his friend Sam waving for him to sit by him. Olivia was there waiting for James as well. James waved one more time at Lily and her friends, and walked away. Some of Lily's friends giggled.

"Your brother is so cute," said her friend Abigail.

"I don't know, I think I prefer Albus. He has those gorgeous green eyes," said another of Lily's friends, Emma.

"Please, stop that before I hurl," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

Abigail and Emma laughed and began to talk amongst themselves. Lily tried not to listen. She didn't think she could handle hearing about how "gorgeous" her brother's eyes were.

"What happened to him over the summer?" asked Hugo.

Lily looked up to see Hugo looking down the table at James.

"I don't know what was up with that, to be honest with you. I think maybe Olivia put him up to it. She's so nice. I don't know he ended up with her," said Lily, shaking her head.

Hugo laughed just as Professor McGonagall could be seen standing from her seat in the center of the long staff table. All of the students in the hall silenced themselves almost immediately.

"Well, children, I think it's time you got some rest. First years, please follow your prefects to your common rooms. Tomorrow, your schedules will be handed out by your heads of house during breakfast. I suggest you all get a good night's sleep in preparation for your classes. Off you go," said Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall continued to stand and watch as all of the students shuffled out of the Great Hall. She looked almost identical to when Harry was in school, just more wrinkles and more gray hair. She looked imperiously over her glasses, examining the students. Lily smiled and waved at her as she passed, and Professor McGonagall returned the gesture with a small smile and a nod.

As Lily walked in to the warm and comfortable Gryffindor common room, she realized how tired she was. Her eyelids were suddenly very heavy, and her legs took a lot more effort to move.

"See you in the morning," said Hugo, and he walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

Lily said goodbye to her cousin and headed in the opposite direction. She caught sight of Albus, said good night to him, and went straight to bed.

* * *

"Potter."

James froze in his tracks. What had he done to get McGonagall on his case already? She was going to make him late to Potions, and then probably give him a detention for being late to Potions. He turned around slowly to face her and smiled.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall! To what do I owe this pleasure?" asked James with a fake smile.

Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Guilty conscience?" she asked.

James laughed and said, "No, believe it or not, I actually haven't caused any trouble just yet. I suppose I'm a little behind."

"Interestingly enough, that's something I wanted to talk to you about," said Professor McGonagall.

James looked at her worriedly, wondering if some of his detentions from fifth year were carrying over.

"As I'm sure you know, quidditch captains are chosen over the summer, and badges are sent out accordingly. Now, I had a captain picked out, but I wanted to be sure that he could handle the responsibility before giving such a position away."

James looked at her incredulously.

"I believe that you are the best potential captain for Gryffindor. However, your behavior does not reflect that opinion. You may be a good leader, but you are not well-behaved, and I believe you are aware of this."

James nodded sheepishly.

"I will only trust you with this position if you are responsible enough to handle it. I'd like to see a lot less detentions from you this year, Mr. Potter, and that means a lot less pranks, smart comments, and disturbances. This is a privilege, Potter, and it can easily be taken away. There are a number of other students who I am sure would be willing to take your place. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Professor. Of course," said James, nodding vigorously.

"Very well then, you are the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team," said Professor McGonagall, handing James his badge.

James took the badge and smiled at it. He couldn't wait to tell his father. Professor McGonagall smiled as if reading his mind, and began to walk away. Then, remembering something, she stopped and turned around.

"Just so you know, if you slip up, and I feel that you no longer deserve to be captain, the person who gets the position is your brother."


	4. Chapter 4

One month later.

"Alright, we've got some great conditions today, although it's a little windy so keep that in mind," said James, looking around at his quidditch team.

James was preparing his team for their first match. They were playing Ravenclaw, who were expected to be quite a challenge this year.

"Clark, Benjamin, remember what we worked on at practice yesterday. Keep those techniques in mind,"

James was speaking to Gryffindor's beaters, who were not only strong, but also very accurate about placing bludgers. They were well-known and well-feared amongst quidditch players of other houses. Benjamin was one of Albus' very good friends.

"Lily, take advantage of your speed. You're small, and you know how to fly that broom. You're one of the best fliers out there. Once you get around who you need to get around, you'll make it every time,"

Lily, who played as a chaser for Gryffindor, had inherited her mother's uncanny accuracy. However, Lily was fairly timid, and had trouble with keeping the quaffle once she got it. But, as James said, once she got around the people in her way, Lily would score nearly every time.

"And remember, if you're not sure what to do, you've got Jack and me for help. The worst possible thing you can do is panic."

James was also a chaser, along with Jack, a seventh year.

"Albus, Sam, we all have faith in you both. Albus, I know you're going to catch that snitch today. And Sam, I know that you're not going to let any stupid goals in. If it goes in, it was a hell of a shot."

There were several cheers and laughs after this last statement to the team's seeker and keeper. James looked around at his team one last time.

"Alright then. Let's do this."

The quidditch stadium was packed with students and staff. Talk of this match had been going around for a while, and no one was quite sure who would win. No one wanted to miss it. As both teams marched on to the field, the stadium erupted with cheers.

"Captains, shake hands."

James still couldn't get used to being called "captain." He loved it. He'd never heard is father so proud of him before. Harry and Ginny couldn't make it to James' first match, but in a way he was happy for this. It gave him a chance to get used to being in charge and responsible for his team before his dad could critique him.

"Aaaaand they're off!"

Albus couldn't help but smile as he glanced at the commentator's booth and saw Hugo. While hovering above the pitch, searching for a glint of gold, Albus stole a few glances at the match. It was an extremely close game. One team rarely was every winning by more than ten before the other team came back.

"And Potter has the quaffle! Lily Potter, that is. I guess I ought to use first names for them, seeing as there's three of-GOAL! That's ten points for Gryffindor thanks to Po-Lily! That leaves Gryffindor in the lead, 80-60," said Hugo over the roar of the crowd.

"And there's another from James! 90-60, Gryffindor!"

Albus continued to listen to Hugo's commentary as he looked around for the snitch.

"And Ravenclaw bounces back with a goal! 90-70, Gryffindor!"

And there it was. A tiny glint of gold, hovering just above Sam's head as he dove to save a shot by Ravenclaw. Albus dove as fast as he could toward the golden hoops that Sam was protecting. He could feel Ravenclaw's seeker behind him, but knew better than to look back. It would only slow him down. All sounds were slowly escaping Albus. He could only hear the wind in his ears. No longer could hear the crowd's cheers, Hugo's commentary, or any of the players. All of his senses were focused on the golden snitch, which was now just a few feet behind the middle hoop.

_Crack!_

Albus' shoulder was walloped by a bludger, and he was sent spinning sideways. Albus grunted in pain as he tried to redirect his broom toward the snitch again. Ravenclaw's seeker had passed him, and was reaching for the snitch...WHAM! Ben sent a bludger straight to the seeker's head, and Albus flew past him. His right shoulder was throbbing, so Albus reached for the snitch with his left hand, barely able to stay on his broom...

"And Potter has the snitch! 150 points for Gryffindor! Gryffindor wins, 240-70!"

Albus was all smiles and began to congratulate all of his teammates as they all flew in to a crazy, midair huddle on Gryffindor's end of the field. As he did this, Albus looked toward the other end of the field and saw Lily making her way to them after handing the quaffle to the referee. She was beaming, until Albus saw two flashes of red light hit her directly in the chest.

Both teams watched has Lily's smile slowly faded, her eyes closed, and she began to fall.

"LILY!"

Forgetting everything, Albus dove. He flew faster than he'd ever flown in his life. All around him, there was nothing. Nothing but his little sister, who was falling faster and faster toward the ground. Albus gripped his broom with his right arm despite the excruciating pain, as fear gripped him more than any other pain possibly could.

Albus caught up to Lily just in time. It took him about three seconds. Lily was about ten feet above the ground when Albus quickly gripped her arm with all his strength, and tried to yank her body towards him. As he did so, he felt something pop in Lily's arm.

"Shit!"

Albus lost control of the broom. He fell the remaining distance to the ground faster than Lily, so he was able to grab her and cushion her fall, as he landed directly on his back. His back didn't hurt at all, but he cried out as he felt a sharp, shooting pain in his shoulder. Still holding on to Lily, he opened his eyes just in time to see James fly past them on his broom.

* * *

James was not far behind Albus after he dove. It all happened so fast. Lily fell, Albus dove, then they were both on the ground. James had every intention of stopping, but then he looked up and saw two hooded figures flying away on broomsticks. He began to pursue them as fast as he possibly could.

James probably would have caught up to the hooded figures if one of them had not turned around. He looked vaguely familiar, but James didn't have enough time to see many details before the hooded figures shot off faster than before. To make things worse, they began shooting curses behind them. This only made James angrier, and he continued to pursue them. He reached in to his pocket for his wand, but soon remembered that he didn't usually bring his wand to quidditch matches. What was he going to do? The second they made it to Hogsmeade, they would be able to apparate. Looking up, James realized that one of the hooded figures was turned around slightly.

Suddenly, the figure that was turned around shot a spell directly at the roof of a small cottage that James was just about to fly over. There was no way to dodge it. The tiled roof exploded underneath James, and he felt immediate pain all over, but saw the two black blurs watching, and willed himself to continue. Just one last dive would do it. James shot forward, but the hooded figures noticed just in time. James' fingertips were millimeters away from one of their cloaks when they disapparated.

James, losing consciousness, flew through the space that the two figures had just been occupying, and hurtled straight to the ground.

* * *

Albus was in pain. His shoulder was broken and completely out of place. He sat in the hospital wing with his cousins right next to him.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" Rose asked him.

"I'm fine. It's fine. What's wrong with Lily?" Albus asked for nearly the tenth time since he'd arrived in the hospital wing.

"Don't lie to me. And...I don't know yet. I don't think anyone knows yet," replied Rose.

"What spells were they? Did you see them? Please tell me you saw," said Albus.

"I did see it. I'm no expert though..." Rose trailed off.

"Yes you are! You're an expert at everything! Just please tell me what you thought it was, because I know you'll be right!"

"Well...judging by the color, trail, and force of the spells, it looked to me like they were both stunning spells," said Rose.

"But...how can that be right? She should wake up soon then, shouldn't she?" asked Hugo.

Rose should her head and said, "It's different. If it had been one little stunning spell, then yes, you'd be correct. But, these were two, extremely powerful stunning spells, which she took directly to her chest. And she's..." Rose trailed off again.

"She's what!" asked Albus, looking worriedly at the other side of the room, where Madame Pomfrey was examining Lily on the other side of a curtain.

Rose looked frightened and said, "She's just so young, and so small. When someone her size takes a hit like that..."

There was silence. No one wanted to finish the end of that sentence. Suddenly, the door burst open, making all three of them jump. Albus winced in pain.

Professor McGonagall walked in to the room briskly, followed by Harry and Ginny Potter.

"Albus!"

Harry and Ginny both rushed to their son.

"Mom, Dad...Lily, she...she was flying, and then-" Albus was near tears when his mother cut him off.

"We know what happened, honey. We are so proud of you. You saved Lily from a lot by catching her," said Ginny, kissing Albus on the forehead.

Harry smiled and said, "You caught the snitch and that just wasn't enough, huh?"

A tiny smile formed on Albus' frightened face.

The temporarily lightened mood plummeted when Madame Pomfrey began to walk towards the Potters.

"I don't want to move her until I'm sure of what's going on. I'm bringing in some healers, they'll be here soon. She's breathing alright, and that's the most important thing, so we can afford to wait for them to get here," said Madame Pomfrey.

"How long will it take?" asked Harry.

"A half an hour or less."

Harry nodded and turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Where's James?"


	5. Chapter 5

James was barely breathing when he got to the hospital wing. An old woman who owned a shop in Hogsmeade had gone to see what had caused the racket, and found James lying face down in the grass. He was covered in cuts, bruises, burns, and blood. The woman originally thought he was dead, but barely felt a pulse. She contacted Professor McGonagall immediately, and James was sent to the hospital wing.

Harry had never seen Ginny cry so much in his life. It killed him to see her like that. He literally felt like something was breaking inside of him. And his children...

Albus was sitting up in his bed, refusing to take the potion that Madam Pomfrey had given him to put him to sleep. No matter how many times she tried to tell him that sleeping would help the pain, he still refused.

"Not until Lily's okay," he said.

So, Albus sat bolt upright, staring at his little sister, wincing with every tiny movement he made. Anytime someone brought up that the pain could be fixed, he stated that he caused Lily pain, so he should suffer too.

It was painful to look at Lily. Not because of the cast on her arm, which was the only sign of physical pain she showed, but because she looked so still. Her eyes were shut, her skin was pale, and she didn't move one bit. It was impossible to wake her. Madam Pomfrey had tried everything in her power, but nothing worked.

And then James was discovered, and the whole room was chaos. As he was brought in to the hospital wing, Ginny began to scream. Professor McGonagall was trying very hard to sooth her, but her face was pale with fear as well. Rose began to cry, and Hugo's face turned green. Harry and Albus looked identical. Both of them stayed rooted to where they were, pale and still, like stone. Their green eyes were wide, and their mouths hung just slightly open as they watched James be placed on a bed. Madam Pomfrey ignored all of the commotion and went to work, immediately treating James' more severe looking wounds.

Harry felt dead. Or he wanted to be. His heart felt like it was being ripped out of him, as he stood there, watching all of the people he loved suffer. When he was a kid, he always felt like he was dragging the people closest to him in danger. It made him feel so guilty, and there wasn't much he could do about it. It was the reason why he had tried to break up with Ginny when he was seventeen. He couldn't bear to see her harmed in order to hurt him. But when the Voldemort chaos was over, it was okay. He could have a family, and not worry about them being hurt. He was obviously wrong. Harry's past was coming back to haunt him in ways he never imagined possible, and he had no idea what to do.

It did not take Ginny long to calm down, as James had begun to look better. Madam Pomfrey had quickly cleaned up most of his wounds, and was checking for broken bones.

Suddenly, the door burst open again. Three healers briskly walked in. Madam Pomfrey looked up at them with relief.

"It's the girl there by the window. Witnesses claim she was hit by two stunners to the chest," Madam Pomfrey told the healers, looking back at James

The healers nodded and immediately began to examine Lily. At the same time, Madam Pomfrey finally straightened up and away from James. She turned to Harry and Ginny, looking exhausted.

"I've taken care of all the small cuts and bruises. Some of these burns are pretty severe, and may take a day or two to heal. He suffered a cracked skull, a broken nose, and a broken wrist. It looks like he fell a pretty good distance, and hit the ground head first. But don't worry, he'll heal up in good time. Due to the impact his head suffered, he may not wake for a few days. Also, he lost a lot of blood, and I'm in the process of regenerating that now, so that could prolong his waking a little bit more."

Madam Pomfrey said all of this to Harry and Ginny very slowly and calmly. Harry and Ginny were listening very carefully, eyes wide.

"So...so he's going to be okay, for sure?" asked Ginny shakily.

"I am absolutely positive," said Madam Pomfrey with a small smile.

Harry and Ginny both breathed a sigh of relief. They both felt as if a huge amount of stress at been lifted...that is until the two healers began levitating Lily and walked toward the Potters. Ginny began to cry again.

"What? What's wrong with her?" asked Harry urgently, his voice cracking.

"They were definitely stunners. She's not responding well. Her body is not capable of handling such powerful spells. Her pulse is much too slow, and her blood is not flowing properly. We need to treat her with the proper equipment at St. Mungo's," said one of the healers.

Ginny was a mess, and so was Harry, but he knew he had to take control. It was his job. These were his kids, this was his wife, this was his family, and that was something he valued more than anything. Harry took a deep breath, and turned to Ginny.

"You go with the healers and Lily. I'll stay here for a while, then I'll meet you at St. Mungo's, okay?" said Harry, his hands on Ginny's shoulders.

Harry was glad to see Ginny wipe her tears, take a deep breath, and stand straight up, head high. She looked at him determinedly and nodded.

"She's going to be okay," Ginny stated, looking directly in to Harry's eyes.

"Yes," he replied, and kissed her on the forehead.

The healers and Ginny walked out of the room behind Lily's levitating body and disappeared as the door shut behind them. Harry stared at the door for a moment and turned to face the remaining people in the room.

"Harry, I wish I could stay here, but I have some work that needs to be attended to..." began Professor McGonagall guiltily.

Harry cut her off by saying, "No, Minerva, it's fine. You're the headmistress, you have a lot of students to take care of, I completely understand. I'll make sure to speak with you before I leave."

Professor McGonagall nodded appreciatively and began to walk away. Before walking out the door she turned to face Hugo and Rose.

"I will let your head of house know that you will not be meeting curfew tonight. You have my permission to stay the night in here...Of course, only if that's okay with you, Poppy."

Madam Pomfrey, who was finally getting to take a break and sit down said, "Oh yes, it's fine."

As Professor McGonagall strode out of the hospital wing, Harry conjured a glass, said the word, "Aguamenti."

"Thank you for taking care of my children," he said, handing Madam Pomfrey a glass of water.

"It is no problem at all, Mr. Potter," said Madam Pomfrey with a smile.

"Albus, what happened to James?" Harry asked his son, sitting on the edge of his bed.

Albus winced in pain as he sat up a bit more and said, "I don't know, he went flying after something."

"People in hoods," said Hugo.

"People in hoods? What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"When Albus caught Lily, James flew right over them. I looked to see what he was after, and there were two people on brooms flying away. They were both wearing big, black cloaks with their hoods up," said Hugo.

Harry froze.

"Hugo...did you...did you see either of their faces?"

Hugo shook is head.

"Rose? What about you? Did you see their faces?"

Rose frowned and shook her head as well.

"It was Dolohov. And Macnair."

All four of them jumped, followed by a yelp of pain from Albus. Harry turned to see Olivia standing in the doorway, pale at the sight of James. Harry stood up and walked towards her.

"You're sure? It was Dolohov and Macnair?" Harry asked her urgently.

"Yes. I recognized them from the signs. James told me about the breakout on the train," said Olivia.

Harry nodded and turned away as Olivia rushed to James. He vaguely heard Rose, Hugo, and Albus explaining to Olivia that James would be fine, but he wasn't paying any attention. Harry had been right. The Death Eaters did have a purpose, and it was revenge.


	6. Chapter 6

"Where's Ron?" asked Harry.

"He's still at work. He went in the second he got your owl," said Hermione.

Harry nodded and put his face in his hands. He was exhausted.

"I should be there too, but I need to be with my family right now."

"Oh, don't say that. This is where you need to be right now and I'm sure everyone you work with is aware of that. Look, Harry, maybe you should go get some rest, it's nearly two in the morning," said Hermione.

The two of them were sitting in St. Mungo's cafeteria. Ginny was with Lily and the healers. The healers had insisted that only one person was allowed to be with Lily at a time.

"I couldn't possibly sleep right now, Hermione," said Harry.

Hermione frowned and said, "How are the boys?"

"James is still out, and he will be for a while, but Poppy said he was doing well. I finally got Albus to take some sleeping potion before I left. He'll be fine as well."

"Was Albus scared?" asked Hermione sadly.

"He was a little scared, yes, but not necessarily about the Death Eaters. His only thought is about Lily right now," said Harry, whose voice quivered at Lily's name.

"Harry, Hermione!"

Harry turned to look where Hermione was looking and saw his fiery-haired best friend walking towards them. He looked as exhausted as Harry

"Anything?" asked Harry as Ron sat down and kissed Hermione on the cheek.

"Not as much as I'd like, but I have some information," said Ron, pulling some papers out of his bag.

"I spoke to the woman who found James, and it turns out her husband witnessed the whole thing. She was on her way back from taking the garbage out, and he was inside and saw the whole thing from the window."

Ron dug in his bag until he pulled out the sheet of paper he was looking for.

"This is their full account of what happened," he said, and handed it to Harry.

When Harry finished reading it, he continued to stare at the paper. He could imagine so vividly what had happened to his son. It hurt to even think about. Hermione was near tears as she finished reading.

"At least someone saw. They were able to get him to safety," said Hermione.

"Yeah, it sounded like he was pretty banged up. How is he, mate?" asked Ron.

"He's going to be alright. He'll be unconscious for the next few days, though," said Harry.

"Well, I'm glad to hear he made it okay. I'll let you know now, your office is flooded with cards, balloons, flowers, chocolate, and a number of other things I had to climb over to get to your desk," said Ron.

"Why were you trying to get to my desk in the first place?" asked Harry.

"I needed a quill. I couldn't find one for the life of me today," said Ron.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. As he began to skim over the sheet of paper Ron had handed him once more, a question came to mind.

"Did either of them recognize the Death Eaters?"

Ron nodded gravely.

"James' girlfriend was right. It was Dolohov and Macnair."

Harry sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Are you positive?" asked Hermione.

"Well, not completely I guess. But I showed them the wanted signs separately, and they both pointed to the same faces," said Ron.

"We've got to track them down. We need to know where they're hiding, who's in charge, and what their plans are. This is not all they wanted to accomplish, I'm sure of it," said Harry.

"Yes, it's important to cut them off from causing any more damage. We can't let something like this happen again," said Hermione, nodding.

"I discussed security on the grounds with Minerva as you asked," Ron told Harry.

"And?" Harry asked.

"We've got a team of aurors patrolling the building and the grounds, along with several protective enchantments. Also, we decided doing away with quidditch would only cause more alarm, so Hogwarts will continue holding matches, but under maximum security."

Harry slowly nodded in approval.

"And what about Albus and James? Are they still going to play quidditch once they're healed?" asked Hermione.

Harry nodded and said, "I can't take quidditch away from them. They'd never forgive me. Besides, I know if it were me, I'd still want to play."

"Hey! It's Ginny Potter! You played for the Holyhead Harpies!"

The three friends turned to see that Ginny had just walked in to the cafeteria. She looked rather bothered, but the exclamation had come from a rather young girl, so Ginny smiled and signed something for her. The girl excitedly scurried off, probably to find her family to tell them what had just happened.

Ginny, who also looked exhausted, sat down at the table with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ginny's eyes had dark circles underneath, and her face was very pale and gaunt. Harry took her hand.

"How is she?" he asked.

"They can't be sure. They've done so many examinations, I can barely remember what they were all for, but they say she will survive. However, there may be lasting damage which won't be revealed until she wakes, and who knows when that could be..."

Ginny trailed off, as she didn't want to think about the possibility of her daughter never waking up. Harry sighed, but wasn't sure of what to say at this point.

"Would any of you like some tea? I'm going to get myself some," said Harry, gesturing to the front counter.

"That would be perfect, Harry," said Ginny, rubbing her eyes.

As Harry walked to the front counter, Ginny looked at her older brother.

"How was your day as Head of the Auror Department?" she asked.

"It was awful! I don't know how Harry does it. I can't wait for him to come back to work. I don't know how much longer I can take the stress of his job," said Ron exasperatedly.

"Oh, Ron, stop complaining. They've always been there for us when we need their help, the least we can do is return the favor," said Hermione.

"It's okay. I expect it won't be long before he wants to go back. I'll tend to the children. I won't need to go in to work," said Ginny.

"What about the _Prophet_?" asked Ron.

"I informed my editor of everything going on, and he completely understood. I'm just going to write from wherever I am at the time and send it in early by owl."

"What matches do you have to cover this week?" asked Ron.

"Um...That's a good question. Chudley Cannons maybe? And then...Ugh, who am I kidding? I have no clue what matches are being played this week. I'll have to figure that out tonight, otherwise the quidditch column in the _Prophet _will be blank, and I will no longer have a job."

With each sentence, Ginny was growing more and more tired and upset.

"I know having kids is always difficult, but how many parents have to deal with this? I guess that's what happens when you marry Harry Potter," said Ginny.

"Ginny-" Hermione said urgently, looking past Ginny worriedly.

Ginny turned to see Harry standing there, tea in hand, looking as if someone had just stabbed him.

"H-Harry...I-"

"Forget it. I'm going to step outside."

And with that, Harry set Ginny's tea on the table, and walked out the door. Ron and Hermione watched him as he did so, while Ginny stared at the table in front of her, not moving a muscle. Her throat was burning, and perhaps it was because of the coming tears, but Ginny couldn't help but think that it was due to the horrible words she'd just


	7. Chapter 7

Lily lied perfectly still as a healer examined her and took her pulse. As the healer made some movements with his wand, Harry watched wondering what the healer was doing. Harry would have asked, but he wasn't sure he could get any words out. After a couple other examinations, the healer spoke.

"Her breathing is almost back to normal. If all goes well, she should wake up soon," said the healer.

"Really? How soon?" asked Harry.

"It's hard to say. I'm about 70% sure that she'll wake up within the next week."

"What about the other 30%? What does that mean?" asked Harry worriedly.

"It just means we'll have to wait longer. She'll wake up, don't worry," said the healer placing a hand on Harry's shoulder before walking out of the room.

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had not slept completely through an entire night in almost a month, which was how long his daughter had been lying perfectly still in that same bed. Her still, pale face looked almost like porcelain. Harry missed the smile that used to spread across that face every day. He yearned to see it again. He felt his eyes begin to burn with tears just before he heard a soft knocking on the door.

"Come in," he choked out.

"Harry, I've brought you some breakfast."

Harry turned his head slightly to see Hermione walking in, her cheeks rosy from the cold weather. She was carrying two paper bags in one hand and a drink carrier with two coffees in it in her other hand.

"Thanks, Hermione, but I'm really not-"

"You're eating even if I have to shove the food down your throat. You've barely eaten or slept or done anything useful in a month. It's time you pulled yourself together," said Hermione.

Harry sighed and took the food from Hermione. She sat next to him and they both began to eat in silence. When they were both finished, Hermione finally spoke.

"You've got to wake up, Harry. You're going to make yourself ill. In fact, you look rather ill already," she said.

"You don't understand, Hermione," said Harry, who didn't even have the energy to be angry with her.

"Of course I understand! Harry, this may not be my daughter, but I've known her since the day she was born! She's my niece! We all love Lily! And she'll be alright, but we have to stay positive. Surrounding her with negativity will not make her better any faster!"

"I know you care about Lily, but-"

"But nothing! You're being foolish Harry! We are all upset about this but you can't-"

"IT'S MY FAULT, HERMIONE! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THAT FEELS! MY DAUGHTER HASN'T MOVED IN A MONTH AND IT'S BECAUSE OF ME!"

Harry had stood up so quickly that his chair had fallen over. Hermione hadn't moved a muscle. She continued to look at Harry with her eyes narrowed.

"All these years, and you still think it all comes back to you."

"Because it does, Hermione."

"Harry, no one can help what they're born in to. I know how much you wish your life could have gone differently, but there's no use focusing on what could have been. Terrible things have happened to you, but you've always gotten through it. It's made you the amazing person you are today. You're my best friend Harry, and I've never wished for anything different. Yes, trouble tends to surround you, but that doesn't make it your fault. You're an important person, and unfortunately that attracts good and evil. But you, Harry...you are as good as it gets. You can't let the evil consume you, and that's exactly what you're doing now. If you continue to let that happen, they win."

There was a long pause in which Harry mulled over everything Hermione had just said. No one moved a muscle.

"But Ginny..." he began.

"You've barely spoken to Ginny in a month," said Hermione.

"Well, you heard what she said."

"So? My God, Harry! You know Ginny! You know that she will always love you no matter what kind of trouble you two get in to! At that moment her children were hurt, and she, being a mother, became very protective. So what if she said something she shouldn't have? You know she didn't mean it."

"No, I don't know that."

"Yes you do. You can't lie to me, Harry. Besides, even if you weren't sure, things could've been cleared up very quickly if you'd spoken to her. Instead, you've been acting like a pouty twelve-year-old."

Harry sighed, tired of Hermione always being right.

"Is she here?"

"Yes."

"Could you send her in here please?"

"Of course," said Hermione, and she walked toward the door.

Minutes later, Ginny walked in. Harry turned and looked at her for the first time in a month. Sure, he'd glanced at her every now and then, but never truly looked at her. He never made eye contact or looked at her for longer than five seconds. Harry had avoided Ginny at all costs due to his guilt.

As Harry looked at Ginny, he saw that she looked exhausted. Her long red hair was pulled back in a messy pony tail, and her eyes told him that she probably hadn't slept any more than he had in the past month. Ginny was looking nervously back at Harry, not sure where to begin.

"Harry, I..."

Harry nearly jumped at the sound of Ginny's voice saying his name. Something clicked. This was Ginny, the one he loved, his wife, his everything. Harry couldn't bear to ever leave her, even if it was to protect her. He didn't have the strength. Ginny was the most beautiful sight he'd seen in a month. In seconds, Harry had crossed the room and began kissing Ginny as passionately as he ever had, and to his pleasure, she did the same.

The perfect moment did not get very far before the two heard a strange creaking noise. Harry and Ginny immediately broke apart and whipped their wands out, searching for the source of the noise. At the same time, they found it.

The creaking noise had been caused by movement on a mattress. Lily's mattress. Harry and Ginny both swayed slightly as they watched their daughter slowly open her eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

"Lily?" said Harry, his voice weak.

Lily's eyes were barely staying open. Her face was still very pale, and she looked extremely ill. Harry slowly walked closer to her.

"Lily? Lily, can you hear me?" asked Harry urgently.

Lily looked at Harry through her nearly closed eyelids and very slowly...she nodded. Both Harry and Ginny made sounds of relief. Harry dropped to his knees and grasped Lily's hand. Lily did not grip his hand or show much comprehension. She looked very tired and confused. Ginny rushed out of the room searching for a healer.

Harry stayed exactly where he was, staring at his daughter until Ginny ran back in the room followed by a healer.

"Is this normal?" Harry asked the healer, referring to Lily's groggy condition.

"Yes, now stay calm or I'll have to ask you to leave," replied the healer, not looking away from Lily.

Harry stayed silent as the healer took Lily's temperature and checked her pulse. The healer then turned to Harry and motioned for him to come closer.

"Lily, I need you to focus. Do you know who this is?" the healer asked Lily slowly and clearly.

Lily stared at the healer blankly for a moment, her eyes still struggling to stay open. She then slowly turned her head to look at her father, who the healer was pointing at. Lily narrowed her eyes slightly and looked confused. Harry felt his eyes begin to burn again. He couldn't believe it. His own daughter didn't remember him. Harry began to turn away.

"Dad."

It was barely a whisper, but everyone in the room heard it. Harry froze for a moment, then turned to face Lily once more. He stared at her, his eyes wide, filling with tears.

"Dad," she said again, and this time Harry saw her.

Harry smiled a huge smile and came closer to Lily. He grasped her hand once again and kissed her forehead.

"Yes, Lily. I'm here. We're all here. You're okay, honey."

Then, the healer had to slowly detach Harry from his daughter so that he could begin working. All visitors were ordered to wait outside the room as more healers were called in. Harry and Ginny spent several minutes in each others' arms, rejoicing at their daughter's waking. When Ron and Hermione arrived, Harry and Ginny finally came back to Earth.

Ginny left to send an owl to Hogwarts asking Professor McGonagall to send James, Albus, Rose, and Hugo to St. Mungo's to see Lily. Harry stayed at St. Mungo's with Ron and Hermione as they waited to be admitted in to Lily's room.

"So how is she?" Ron asked Harry in the cafeteria.

"She was...tired. But she opened her eyes, Ron. She knew who I was!" Harry was ecstatic.

Ron smiled and Hermione said, "We're so happy, Harry. I can't wait to see her."

"Me neither," said Harry.

* * *

"JAMES! JAMES!"

James was heading to Potions when he heard someone screaming his name. He turned to see Olivia sprinting down the corridor, pushing people out of her way as she ran. James dropped his books and grabbed her by her arms.

"Olivia, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"J-James," Olivia panted, "L-Lily...she's...awake. Go to...McGonagall."

James felt as if he could fly. He kissed Olivia passionately, told her he loved her, scooped up his books, and ran as fast as he could to Professor McGonagall's office,

Olivia, finally catching her breath, smiled as she watched James run down the corridor. The corridor had emptied due to the fact that all of the students had trickled in to class. Just as Olivia began to turn around, something yanked her hair viciously, causing her to fall backwards and screech in pain. Almost instantaneously, a hand closed over her mouth, muffling her scream. She felt the tip of a wand touch her temple, and suddenly everything was black.

* * *

"Dad!"

Harry was waiting near the fireplace when his children arrived. He hugged each of them, and immediately Albus was looking anxiously up at him.

"When can we see her?"

Harry smiled and said, "How about right now?"


	9. Chapter 9

**I really appreciate everyone who is following this story. Thank you so much for all of the reviews!**

As Harry led his children to Lily's room, Albus began to shake vigorously. He couldn't figure out why, but he was nervous to finally see his sister. Albus had spent every single day of the past month feeling nothing but guilt for Lily. As if he knew exactly what Albus was thinking, James placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It kind of hurt. Albus took a deep breath as they finally arrived at Lily's room.

And there she was. Lily was sitting up, but she looked exhausted. Her face was pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her red hair was tied in to a very messy and lopsided ponytail.

"Lily!"

Lily, with seemingly great effort, smiled as she saw her brothers and father walk in.

"How are you?" asked James.

"I'm...okay," said Lily.

"What have the healers been saying?" James asked.

"She's going to make a full recovery. It'll just take some time. She can come home for Christmas in a few weeks and then go back to Hogwarts," said Harry happily.

Eventually, Ginny arrived, and the family sat around Lily and talked for hours about anything and everything. Everyone was happier than they'd been in a whole month. However, after a while, Lily was barely able to keep her eyes open. A healer suggested that Harry and the others leave so that Lily could get some rest. Everyone said their goodbyes and began to leave.

"Albus."

Albus turned around in the doorway and looked at Lily.

"Thank you," she said.

Albus looked confused and said, "For what?"

"For catching me. I don't remember anything but everyone has told me. Thank you. And James, thanks for trying to go after them. You both...it means the world to me," said Lily.

James and Albus stood side by side in the doorway looking at their exhausted sister.

"You're our sister," said Albus, "If we didn't do those things...we'd be awful brothers."

"Yeah, it's no problem, Lily. We're glad you're better. Get some sleep, okay?" said James.

Lily smiled and nodded. She finally allowed her eyes to close and fell asleep almost instantly. Harry and Ginny looked at all of their children with loving smiles on their faces. All was well. Or so it seemed.

* * *

One week later.

Harry was sitting at his desk going through piles of paperwork. He checked his watch and breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that he only had one hour left of work. It had been an extremely slow Monday. Sending James and Albus back to school that morning had been an extra hassle, and he'd gone to St. Mungo's during his lunch hour to check on Lily. Now he just had to get through one more hour, and he could finally go home and relax.

While flipping through the last bit of the monotonous paperwork, Harry heard a loud disturbance. There were sudden shouts and movements outside his door. Harry grabbed his wand and ran out his office door only to see James wrestling with two of his coworkers.

"Stop!" yelled Harry, and everyone froze.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" James yelled at his father.

Harry was thoroughly confused. He glanced behind him to make sure that James was actually talking to him.

"Wha-"

"WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING HERE? THIS IS AUROR OFFICE ISN'T IT? YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!"

James' voice echoed throughout the large auror office. The employees did nothing but stare. No one moved.

"James, what on earth are you-"

"OLIVIA! THEY TOOK OLIVIA! SHE'S GONE AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

Harry felt dizzy. He may have fallen over had Ron not appeared at his side. Having his best friend for support snapped him out of it.

"Davis, Grounge, let him go. James, follow me. Ron...come with us," said Harry quietly.

As the three of them walked out of the office, Ron shouted at the staring employees to get back to work. Harry led the way down a long hallway until he found an empty conference room. Harry walked in, allowed Ron and James to follow, then shut and locked the door behind them. He turned to look at his son.

James was a mess. He was sweating, his hair was ten times messier than usual, and his Hogwarts robes were torn in all sorts of places.

"What happened, son?"

"Don't talk to me like that," said James.

Harry simply looked at James. He didn't know what to say.

"They took Olivia!" James exclaimed.

"Who's they?" asked Harry.

"Who do you think? The death eaters!" said James, his anger increasing by the minute.

"Okay...where did this happen? How do you know?"

"Today was my first day back to class. She wasn't in Transifguration. I wondered why she hadn't answered any of my letters last week but I figured she may have just been busy. I asked around and..."

"And what?"

"And I found out that she'd gone missing the same day Albus and I left. They took her from Hogwarts. The place that YOU'RE supposed to be protecting! DON'T YOU HAVE AURORS GAURDING THE GROUNDS? ENCHANTMENTS PROTECTING THEM ON TOP OF THAT? HOW THE HELL ARE THEY TAKING KIDS FROM THE SCHOOL?"

It was Harry's turn to be angry. He shoved James aside and shot out the door. He sprinted down the hallway and back in to the auror office.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU IS IT?"

Everyone in the office froze in confusion. Harry looked around the room panting. Ron and James came running in from behind him.

"Someone in here is working for the wrong side. I will find out who it is. And when I do, your employment will not be the only thing that you lose."

Harry had come unhinged. He walked in to his office and slammed the door behind him leaving Ron and James behind.

"How does he know that it's someone here?" James whispered to Ron.

"Your father is the Head of the Auror Department. He should've known about Olivia the second it happened, not a week later because his son found out at school. This is the second time that this has happened."

When James still continued to look angry and confused, Ron sighed.

"Someone within the department is preventing Harry from receiving information quickly enough. Obviously, if the department Head doesn't even know about a situation, he won't know to take any action."

"That still doesn't explain the lack of security at Hogwarts," said James angrily.

"It just might. You heard your dad. Someone's on the wrong side."


	10. Chapter 10

**I want to dedicate this chapter to jordygirl for following this story for so long and reviewing so often! Thanks :)**

* * *

Harry was marching down a long Hogwarts corridor followed by six of his best aurors. They walked in complete silence, the only sound being the echo of their quick footsteps.

"Harry."

Harry stopped abruptly, his aurors followed suit. Turning around, Harry saw Professor McGonagall looking at him with a worried expression.

"Yes?" Harry replied.

His face was like stone. He looked at McGonagall with an emotionless expression, waiting for her to speak.

"I'm sorry for what's happened. I sent you an owl, and I had assumed-"

"Don't ever assume. Ever," said Harry angrily.

Professor McGonagall took a step back as if she'd been wounded. She looked at the ground, not know what to say.

Harry sighed and said, "Look, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault. From now on, if you need to contact me, and I don't reply, something's up. I will always reply. If I don't, I either didn't get the message, or I'm dead. Got it?"

Professor McGonagall nodded and asked, "How long will you be here?"

"Not much longer. I'm assembling these aurors and then I have to get back to work."

"Good luck, Harry," said McGonagall.

Harry nodded and turned away from her, leading his aurors back down the corridor. As he led the way, Harry began to speak to them.

"Make sure you are at your posts at all times. Any wandering is prohibited. Do not interfere with the children's school day, stay out of the way. They need not know that you are even here. If you notice any kind of anomaly or if you gain any important information, notify me immediately by owl, then by our galleon communicators, then notify McGonagall, who will in turn notify my by owl as well."

The smallest of the aurors, a young woman with short black hair spoke up.

"If I may ask, why do you need so many different methods of communication, sir?"

"Because, Robinson, I want to know what's going on the second it starts, and no way in hell is some traitor going to stop me."

* * *

James sat in Potions, not paying the slightest attention. He glanced to the seat next to him, where Olivia usually sat. He gripped his desk angrily. Where was she? Why did they take her? Was she even alive? James shook the last question out of his head. No, that wasn't possible.

After class, James headed to lunch, but he wasn't sure why. He wasn't even hungry. James was exhausted. He hadn't slept in two days, and he hadn't eaten much either. He barely felt alive. He couldn't even hear the sounds around him, and he didn't want to. Suddenly his little brother woke him from his trance.

"Hey, James, can I talk to you?" asked Albus.

James nodded and followed his little brother. Albus led him to an empty corridor and began to speak.

"Okay, so I was thinking about this whole situation with the death eaters, and I think I know what to do. It's a risky plan, but I'm almost positive it will work."

James, suddenly wide awake, leaned forward in anticipation.

"The holidays are coming up, right? So, it's the perfect set up. You see-"

"Boys!"

The Potters jumped as they turned and so Professor McGonagall running towards them. They stood up and waited for her to deliver the news that was obviously not good. Professor McGonagall seemed to see this in their faces and felt a wave of guilt overcome her. She hesitated.

"What is it, Professor?" asked Albus.

"It's your mother."

* * *

Ginny was sitting in a chair near her daugher's hospital bed writing vigorously when, out of the corner of her eye, she could've sworn she saw something fly past the window. She shook her head and went back to her writing, surely she was imagining things. Minutes later, she saw it again.

Glancing at her sleeping daughter, Ginny stopped writing. She slowly set her quill and parchment aside and grabbed her wand. Slightly nervous, Ginny stood up and began to walk toward the window. Just as she looked outside, the window exploded, throwing Ginny back. She yelled in pain as the glass cut her and her back slammed in to the wall.

"Mom!"

Lily was jolted awake by all of the noise, only to see a hooded figure standing above her bed. The hooded figure walked closer to Lily, who backed away as far as she possibly could, her face flooded with fear.

"H-hey, you."

The death eater turned in shock to see Ginny barely supporting herself against the wall, raising her wand. Smiling, the death eater began to raise his wand as well.

Suddenly, Lily dove from her bed at the death eater, successfully stealing his wand and running to the other side of the room with it. The death eater began to go after Lily, but he was too late.

"_Reducto_."

It was barely a whisper, but it came from Ginny Potter's mouth. Needless to say, the death eater was sent straight out of the hospital room the same way he came.

* * *

Having just heard the entire story of what happened to his wife, Harry left Ginny for a moment to take a walk. He was feeling that strange numbness again, and he didn't know what to do with himself.

"Harry! How is she?"

It was Hermione, who still had snowflakes in her hair from being outside.

"She's fine. She had some scrapes and bruises and a dislocated shoulder. She's refusing to stay in bed of course."

Hermione smiled and said, "Sounds like Ginny...Harry?"

Harry looked up at Hermione to see her looking up at him. Her eyes were narrowed.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to go figure something out," Harry replied.

"Figure what out?"

"How I'm going to track these death eaters down. I need to pack and develop a plan and-"

"You don't mean to tell me that you plan on hunting down ten death eaters by yourself?" asked Hermione incredulously.

"I have to."

"No you-"

"Yes, I do. They've hurt my kids, and now they've hurt my wife."

Harry was shaking at this point. Hermione looked slightly frightened.

"I am done standing back and waiting for them to make another move. I'm going to do something about it."

Hermione was just about to say something when Ron came running in from speaking with Ginny.

"Harry, James and Albus are gone. They...They left a note."


	11. Chapter 11

**_We're nearing the end...Thanks for all of you who have been faithfully reading and reviewing :)_**

* * *

_Mum and Dad-_

_We know you're angry, but we have to do this. We have a plan and it's going to fix everything. Everything's going to be fine. See you soon._

_-Albus_

_ps. In case it isn't obvious, James is with me._

* * *

"And now we wait," said Albus.

He stood on the very edge of the Forbidden Forest looking ahead determinedly.

"Albus, how can you be sure this is going to work?" asked James.

"Just trust me, alright? We need to focus," said Albus, not looking at James.

"No! Look, Al, I've followed right behind you this whole time without asking any questions. I deserve to know what's going on. You're my little brother. If you don't tell me what's going on...we're going back," said James.

Albus looked at James in horror and said, "No! You can't do that! Do you want to save Olivia or not?"

"Of course I do! But I don't want to risk more of the people I care about getting hurt!"

The boys stood across from each other in awkward silence, both of them avoiding each others' eyes.

"Fine," muttered Albus.

James looked back up at Albus, waiting for him to speak.

"When you found out about Olivia and stomped out of Hogwarts, I didn't know what you were going to do, so I followed you," said Albus.

"You flew all the way there...right behind me?" asked James, surprised.

"Yep. Of course, I soon discovered that you were going to see Dad. When you ran inside of the ministry, I planned to continue following you, but something caught my eye. There was a guy in an alley, dressed all fancy, talking to another guy in a hood. That didn't look right to me. So, I quietly walked over and eavesdropped.

"The fancy guy asked the hooded guy for an update, and the hooded guy told him that he'd intercepted two more owls, but neither were important, so he let them go. The fancy guy said good job and started laughing. He was all, 'You're doing so well! The idiot doesn't even know that Yaxley took that girl yet!' Then fancy guy gave hooded guy a bottle of something. He drank it, and when I saw his face start bubbling I knew it was polyjuice potion.

"Things were starting to make sense to me, but there was still a big gap. Of course, that was all cleared up when the fancy guy left the alley, and walked in to the ministry. I followed him and watched him walk straight in to the auror department."

James' eyes widened.

"So...They're just intercepting Dad's owls? That's how he's not getting information? I feel really stupid now. Dad should, too! It's so obvious!" exclaimed James.

"Actually, it's not. I thought the same thing at first, but then I started to wonder about something else. Why would the death eater even need a traitor in the auror office if they were just intercepting owls? And how were they intercepting every single one? Something was off, and I wanted to know what it was. So, I asked Rosie."

"What? You told Rose? Al-"

"No, no, noooo. I didn't. I very cleverly worked around telling Rosie anything. I just made it seem as if I was genuinely interested in how things at the ministry worked. Yeah, right. Anyway, she told me that when an owl is addressed to Dad, it actually goes to a different location other than the ministry, a super secret location. He's the Head of the auror department, so threats and what-not are sent to him often. They have to be sure nothing harmful is being sent to him. So, his mail gets checked by whoever is in charge at that location, and then sent to the ministry that time. I asked Rosie who was in charge of that, and she said a select few people, since it's so secret.

"So, here's the coolest part. When you and Dad left, I snuck in to his office. After searching for like, ever, I found what I was looking for. His list of employees. And there they were, 'Potential Owl Threat Interception Employees." It was POTI Employees for short, which I found hilarious.

"Anyway, the list included a photo of each employee, and immediately I recognized the one who had been duplicated with the polyjuice potion. Also, fancy guy turned out to be the department Head."

Albus finished by standing tall and crossing his arms with a proud smile on his face. James looked at him incredulously. His clumsy, loud, ignorant, obnoxious little brother managed to be sneaky, calm, clever, and perceptive at the drop of a dime. Who knew?

"Wow...Well, good work, Al," said James.

Albus' smile became five times bigger at the sound of his brother's approval.

"So, you sent that letter, then?" asked James.

"Yep, the death eater should be getting it any minute!" said Albus.

For a moment there was silence, until James thought of one last question.

"What are we going to do if all ten show up?"

Albus' smile disappeared immediately as his eyes widened in shock. It was one thing he had not thought of. James' stomach clenched as he looked at his little brother's fearful face.

"Nevermind, Al. Let's just hope they don't."

* * *

_Hey Dad,_

_Thanks for letting us stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas Holiday this year. James and I sort of promised Ben that we'd keep him company since he doesn't get to go home this year. Hope your holidays go well! Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! Don't tell Mum, because I know she won't like it, but tomorrow night James and I are sneaking out to Hagrid's to help him with these strange creatures he's been 'breeding.' Apparently, they only come out at night, and they're really rare! James wants to try and take one so he can sell it, but I won't let him. Hagrid would have a fit. Write back soon! (And send presents!)_

_-Albus_

"Rowle."

"Yeah?"

"Contact Brown. Tell him I need to speak with him immediately. Then tell Yaxley to meet me here and to bring the girl with him."

"What's up?"

"We've got them."


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Hope you enjoy :)**

Harry stood frozen with the slip of parchment in his hand. Ron stared at him, almost frightened.

"Does Ginny know?" asked Harry in a strained whisper.

"Yeah...she's the one who found it," said Ron.

"Where was it?"

"Well, it was on her breakfast tray, so-"

"So someone's helping them!" said Harry through gritted teeth.

"H-harry-"

"Someone is helping them to go off and kill themselves! Who would believe that two kids are going to be able to pull this off?" Harry was now shaking with anger.

"Think for a minute, mate. There are loads of things they could've done. They may have left it at the front desk with Ginny's name on. It's not like they walked up and said 'Hey, we're about to take down some death eaters by ourselves, care to leave this note for our parents to tell them we're running off?' They wouldn't have gotten away with it, and you know it."

Harry, still breathing deeply and staring at the parchment in his hand, slowly began to nod. His anger, however, did not seem to subside.

"Find out how it got on Ginny's tray," said Harry, and he began to walk away.

"What about you? Where are you going?" Ron called after him.

"To the office. I need to have a talk with someone."

Ron stared at Harry. His shoulders were shaking, his messy hair was messier than usual, he was pale, and his green eyes were narrowed in anger. He didn't look like Harry.

"Harry...whatever you're going to do...Don't go alone. I'll come with you," said Ron, beginning to follow Harry.

Harry turned around so fast that Ron jumped back a few feet.

"No! You do what I told you to do! Find out how that damn letter got on Ginny's tray! That is the best way for you to help me right now!"

Harry was looking at Ron furiously, and it was Ron's turn to look at the ground. Harry made to turn around, but hesitated at the look on Ron's face.

"Look...I'm sorry. I know this isn't your fault. It's just...this is my family. And I...I never..." Harry trailed off, not sure he could continue.

"I know. It's alright, I understand. I'll do as you asked, but be careful alright? It doesn't feel right, letting you go alone," said Ron.

"He's not going alone."

Both Harry and Ron jumped and turned to see Hermione standing only a few yards away. She had gone to see Ginny, and they had not heard her return.

"I'm going with you, Harry. And don't you dare argue with me. You need someone with you. It's not smart to go about this on your own. If you really want to help your children, you need to do this carefully and strategically."

The three friends stared at each other.

"Fine," said Harry, "Ron, keep in contact alright?"

Ron nodded and said, "You take care of her. Don't let anything happen to her."

His voice was cracking.

"I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, Ronald," said Hermione fiercely.

Ron ignored her and continued, "And...as soon as I find out how the note got to Ginny, I'll be meeting you wherever you are."

"Sounds good," said Harry, backing away. They'd wasted so much time, he was becoming impatient.

Hermione seemed to read his mind.

"Alright, let's go, Harry! Ron, hurry!"

With that, the trio shot off to their destinations.

"Harry, where are we going?" asked Hermione as they walked toward the exit of St. Mungo's.

"You'll see. Grab my arm," said Harry, holding his forearm out for her.

Hermione looked at Harry skeptically, but grabbed his arm all the same. With a pop, the two disapparated.

* * *

"Which way do you think they'll come from?" asked Albus.

"I don't think they'll just pop out of nowhere, Al. They're going to find a spot to hide to jump out at us or something. They won't appear until we do," said James.

James was starting to feel extremely worried. At first, it seemed as if Albus had the perfect plan. Lure the death eaters to them, and bam! They've caught them! However, James had finally realized the flaw in Albus' plan. How were two kids only in their fifth and sixth years of Hogwarts going to win against death eaters? How could they defeat one, let alone ten death eaters? As the sun began to droop closer and closer to the horizon, James began to feel very panicked.

Albus was doodling in the snow with his wand, his hands shaking. It was extremely cold, as it was the dead of winter, but the two of them had been keeping warm near a jar of miraculous blue fire.

"Rosie taught it to me," Albus had explained to James, who was thoroughly impressed.

Albus had come to the same realization that James had, and was beginning to feel just as panicked. He thought hard, glaring at his pictures in the snow, until he finally came to a conclusion.

"Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll put on Dad's invisibility cloak, and walk up to the doors of the school. You know how to do that spell on my shoes so they don't make footprints in the snow right? We'll need that, obviously. Then, I'll take it off halfway to Hagrid's and keep walking. At that point, they're bound to show up, and you can attack. Stunners, a hex, anything. Anything will do."

Albus seemed nervous, but reassured all the same now that he had a set plan. James said nothing. He was thinking about the beginning of the year when his father had told him to watch over his brother and sister. He couldn't see how allowing his little brother to walk in to the hands of a bunch of death eaters would be considered obeying his father's request.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were standing in the middle of an empty, destroyed room. The room was very small, and it had plain, beige walls and equally plain hardwood floor. Hundreds of owl feathers littered the floor, and there were two brown desks pushed against the wall. The desk tops were stacked high with several letters and envelopes.

Hermione turned around and gasped. Following her gaze, Harry turned and saw two men lying crumpled in a corner, obviously dead.

"They've been dead for quite some time. You can tell..." Hermione trailed off, not wanting to point out the obvious, disgusting signs.

Hermione then looked away from the corner and at the wall to see a single square window, directly in the center of the wall. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Is this place...what I think it is?"

Harry nodded. He walked toward the desks and began shuffling through the many letters. He shook his head in anger.

"They've been blocking my mail. Any information of their activity...they made sure I couldn't get it," said Harry.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"But...no one knows where this place is. Except for you and...and-"

"Brown."

"Brown? Wilfred Brown?"

"Yes. I put him in charge of this temporarily because Tom was ill. Of course, he wasn't ill. He's been dead in a corner. But Brown was so helpful. So keen to take the weight off my shoulders. Told me he'd take care of it, not a problem. Said I could trust him with everything," said Harry bitterly.

"But...he loves the kids. Why would he want to hurt them? I remember, he even bought them Christmas presents and told them stories about Azkaban and-"

"Which is exactly why I trusted him. I thought the same things, Hermione, and he knew I would."

"Harry, this isn't making sense. The pieces don't fit," said Hermione.

"They don't fit because I haven't given you the last one. But you can find it yourself. What is Wilfred Brown's primary job?" asked angry, a nasty look on his face.

"Well, he's a supervisor at Azkaban, isn't he?"

Harry nodded. Hermione continued to look confused, until suddenly it hit her.

"He helped them escape! He developed a plan with them, a plan to kill Tom so that he could get in charge of this place, just in time to break them out! He's then allowed them to block your mail, delaying your knowledge of anything they've done!" exclaimed Hermione.

Harry nodded, picked up another letter, and then gasped.

"What is it?" asked Hermione urgently.

Harry's heart was beating extremely fast. His stomach clenched, and he felt his mouth go dry. When he finally gained the ability to speak again, his voice was hoarse.

"J-James and Albus...they knew. They found out. Hermione...Hermione, they're trying to bait the death eaters. They...they...they..." Harry was still breathing heavily as he trailed off, and Hermione ripped the letter from his hands.

Hermione read quickly, her eyes widening as she reached the end. Her eyes traveled back to the top of the letter, where the date was written. She ran to the small square window and looked outside at the setting sun.

"Harry, we don't have much time, but I think we can make it-"

At that moment, an owl began to peck viciously at the window. Hermione opened it quickly and it fluttered toward Harry. Harry detached a small slip of parchment and read it.

_The receptionist at the desk said they received an owl from Hogwarts requesting that the enclosed letter be delivered to Ginny Potter immediately. Where are you?_

_-Ron_

Harry's eyes flickered around the room for a quill, but Hermione spotted one first and handed it to him. Harry grasped it and wrote at the bottom of the parchment.

_Get to Hogwarts as fast as you possibly can._


	13. Chapter 13

It was getting dark. James and Albus sat stony faced and silent for quite some time before Albus finally spoke. His voice shook with fear.

"Well, I guess we'd better get started," he said, standing up slowly.

"Wait."

James was standing as well, his arm held out in front of Albus. He was looking ahead at the grounds determinedly.

"Let me go out there, Al. You stay out of sight and take care of the death eaters," said James.

James half expected Albus to look angry, so he was surprised to see his little brother smile at him.

"James, you know my aim isn't as good as yours. How long have you picked on me for that? You'd be as good as dead. Besides, you're older. You know more spells. Just let me go, so we can get this over with," said Albus.

James said nothing, but looked at his brother. Albus looked right back at James. The two brothers stood like this for a few moments, until James finally spoke.

"Fine, but..." James didn't know what to say. He couldn't find the right words.

"I'll be fine, bro. I've got you looking out for me, right?" said Albus cheerfully.

James swallowed hard and said, "Y-Yeah...You'll be fine. Have your wand ready though, okay? Be ready to defend yourself if you have to."

Albus nodded and pulled out his father's invisibility cloak. Before James had time to say anything else, his brother had disappeared.

"Here goes," James heard him say.

James looked around, wondering where to go. He only had a few minutes before Albus would take the cloak off, so he had to move fast. Looking up, James found a tree that looked easy to climb. Clutching his wand with his teeth, James climbed the tree as quickly as he could. When he got as high as he could, he turned around and sat on a very thick branch, leaning his back against the tree. James had a perfect view of the grounds, and now all he had to do was wait.

James didn't have to wait long. He was momentarily shocked as Albus took his cloak off, and ten death eaters in their black, hooded cloaks seemed to appear instantaneously. James took a deep breath.

"_Stupefy! Stupefy! Stu-_AGGH!"

After successfully stunning two death eaters with stunners that hit them directly in the chest, a death eater shot a hex at James, causing him to fall out of the tree to dodge it. As he fell painfully in the cold snow, James heard Albus cry out. James tried to stand up, but someone grabbed him from behind.

"_Impedimenta!_" he shouted as he pointed his wand behind him, and he heard the satisfying crunch of a death eater colliding with a tree.

_Three down_, thought James, his hopes soaring. Almost immediately, his hopes fell again when he saw Albus restrained by a death eater who was holding Albus' arms behind his back.

"Interesting," said one of the death eaters.

"Hey, where do you want her?"

James looked to his left and gasped in horror. Olivia was being dragged toward them by two death eaters. Her hair was tangled, her clothes were ripped, her face was cut and bruised. James tensed with anger.

"Let her go!" he shouted.

The death eaters laughed, making James even angrier.

"Or what? You think you can take us all on?"

James didn't know what to say. Two death eaters had Olivia, and Albus now required two death eaters as well because he'd begun to thrash around violently. Three more, including the one that was speaking to James, were standing to the right of Albus. Sure, James had taken care of three, but there were seven left.

"There's no reason to hurt her. You don't need her," said James.

"Oh, but we do. You see, we are in need of some information about daddy," said the death eater with tauntingly.

"I won't tell you anything!" shouted James.

"We knew you'd say that, which brings us back to this young lady here."

The death eater walked toward Olivia, who whimpered and tried to back away. The death eaters laughed and threw her toward the one approaching her. He wrapped his arm around her neck and turned her to face James. He placed his wand to her temple.

"I think you'll tell us whatever we want to know."

The death eaters laughed. James glared at them, but knew that they were right.

"J-James...it's okay. Don't. Don't tell them anything," gasped Olivia.

James looked at Olivia desperately. Her eyes locked with his, and James felt a kind of pain that he'd never felt before. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt.

"Shut up, girl!" shouted the death eater, pushing Olivia to the ground, "_Crucio!_"

The grounds echoed with Olivia's screams. She writhed in pain as the death eaters cackled evilly.

"Stop! Stop!" shouted James.

But the death eater wouldn't stop. He kept his wand pointed at Olivia, who was screaming louder and louder, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"STOP IT! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING! ANYTHING! JUST PLEASE STOP!" James was now shouting at the top of his lungs.

Immediately, the death eater lifted his wand. Olivia stopped screaming, and to James' horror, lied motionless on the ground.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," said the death eater.

"What do you want to know?" asked James hoarsely, not taking his eyes off of Olivia.

"Oh, just some things. You see, we'd like to get back at your father. He's caused us a few issues in the past, and we'd like nothing better than to return the favor. Of course, we've already gotten started, what with all the strife we've caused him with his family. But that's not enough I'm afraid. So, we have plans, many plans, but we need some key information first, and who better to ask than his eldest son?"

"How about me?"

James turned his head so fast that he cricked his neck. Harry Potter was walking towards them, looking more livid than James had ever seen him.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I just got sooo busy and it was nearly impossible to find spare time to write. I hope you like it! **

* * *

"Get your hands off of my son," said Harry.

His face was like stone, his bright green eyes narrowed with hate behind his round glasses. He was breathing deeply, gripping his wand so tightly that his knuckles were white.

A few death eaters laughed, others seemed frightened at the sight of Harry. James tried to make eye contact with his father, but Harry was too busy glaring at the death eater restraining Albus. Then, James was pushed to the ground from behind.

"Augh! What-"

And with a sinking feeling, James realized what was happening. The death eaters he had stunned had woken up, and when he'd let his guard down, they attacked him from behind. He now found himself restrained just as Albus was. It all happened in a matter of seconds, before James had any time to resist.

"I ought to kill them right now," said the death eater who had tortured Olivia. "After everything you've put us through, it's what you deserve."

Not even a sliver of fear crossed Harry's face. He continued to glare at the death eater.

"Are you sure you want to go down this road? Azkaban can be made a hell of a lot worse for people I especially dislike," said Harry calmly.

The death eater laughed once again, but the rest stayed still. James even felt the death eaters' grips on him temporarily slacken.

"You can try," said the death eater.

To James' surprise, Harry smiled.

"I know about Brown, you moron. You think I'll take you back to Azkaban and you'll all have a little chat and then break out again? No, I think not. I know exactly where Mr. Brown is, and he is being attended to as we speak," said Harry.

The death eater stiffened. This clearly was surprising news. Then, in the blink of an eye, the death eater whipped his wand at Harry, a jet of deep purple light emitting from it. Before James and Albus had a chance to cry out their warnings to their father, Harry had already slashed his wand through the air, causing an invisible shield to swallow the spell. Harry wasted no time and sent a spell of his own back at the death eater, who deflected it. The colorful bursts of light danced in James' eyes as he watched, both in awe and in fear.

Finally, one of Harry's spells knocked the death eater to the ground right next to Olivia, who was still lying perfectly still. As he fell, his hood fell down. It was Yaxley. Panting, he reached for his wand, but someone's foot was suddenly on top of it. Looking up, Yaxley saw none other than Ron Weasley.

"What did you think you were going to accomplish?" Harry shouted at Yaxley. Yaxley only looked at him.

"You lot are a bunch of idiots. You escape from Azkaban, which I don't doubt was rather difficult, and the first thing you set out to do is get yourselves thrown right back in," said Harry.

"We set out for revenge! We wanted to make you suffer! And that worked, did it not?" shouted the death eater restraining Albus.

"Revenge for what? Harry never did anything to you. You've been serving the punishment you deserve. You followed a monster. You did this to yourselves."

This time it was Hermione. The death eaters were beginning to look around nervously.

"But you're right," said Harry quietly.

Everyone turned to face Harry, who wore a strange look on his face.

"You did make me suffer. You hurt my family, which, as you've obviously figured out, is the most important thing in the world to me."

No one spoke or even moved as Harry continued.

"They say you don't know what you have until it's gone, but for me it's always been the other way around. It was gone from the start for me. I had no family. I had no idea what it would feel like. But as I grew up, I started to learn. I watched a family grow around me."

Harry took a deep breath before continuing.

"I have always known what it feels like to have no one. To never have, but to have already lost. So I will always cherish what I now have. And no one, especially the likes of you, will be taking that away from me."

Harry's voice shook with anger as he finished speaking. Complete silence followed as he raised his wand and pointed it at Yaxley.

"This is the end."

Yaxley stared at Harry, his eyes full of fear.

"You'll never understand. What we've been through...it's-it's-"

"-Your own fault," interrupted Harry. "There was a time for you to make a choice, and you chose Voldemort. You might have noticed that the people who chose otherwise aren't spending their free time in Azkaban."

"No, but you may have noticed that most of them are dead," sneered Yaxley.

Once again, James saw his father look angrier than ever before.

"In just a few moments," said Harry, raising his wand, "you'll wish you were."


	15. Chapter 15

**SOOO...I am very very sorry for how long this final chapter took. I knew it would be the last one, and not only was I suffering from writer's block, but I became very busy. Anyway, it's finally here, and I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

"Harry."

Hermione's voice was barely a whisper, but in the dead silence it rang perfectly clear. Harry turned to look at her slowly, his wand still pointed at Yaxley. The two best friends looked at each other for a moment. Hermione's face wore an expression mixed with concern and bossiness, something only she could achieve.

Harry sighed and his livid expression softened slightly.

"Don't think I'd like anything more than to put you in a world of pain right now, but that wouldn't make me any better than you," said Harry.

Harry took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I'll give you a choice. Before I do that though, let me remind you of something. My friends and I have fought and defeated most of you once before. Then we hunted the rest of you down and easily threw you all in Azkaban. Also, there are about fifteen aurors just minutes away from these grounds, all of them just as able to take you all down."

"Here's your choice: You can fight, and go through a very large amount of pain before heading back to Azkaban, or you can hand your wands over and head to Azkaban pain-free."

Within minutes, all of the death eaters' wands were in Ron's hands, all of the death eaters' hands and feet were tied, and Harry was directing a team of aurors who had arrived to retrieve them. Hermione was tending to Olivia, with a worried James anxiously standing by.

As Harry's team of auror's collected the death eaters, Albus walked toward him timidly.

"Dad...Are you mad at me?" he asked, looking at the ground.

Harry sighed and looked down at his son.

"Albus, I know why you did this. I know you were trying to help, and I know you wanted this to be over as much as I did. But do you understand how much danger you just put yourself in? You could have been killed. I have had about enough of my family being in near-death situations."

Silence followed. Albus continued to look at the ground and said, "So I guess I'll take that as a yes..."

Harry couldn't help but smile a little.

"I'm not mad at you, Albus."

Albus finally looked up from the ground and smiled at his father.

"But that doesn't mean you're not in trouble," said Harry.

Albus' shoulders slumped.

* * *

James watched Hermione quietly as she moved her wand over Olivia. His face was still pale, and he showed no happiness at the death eaters being captured. He just wanted Olivia to be okay. After a few minutes, Olivia's eyelids fluttered. James jumped.

"Olivia? Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

James put his arm around Olivia and helped her sit up. She winced in pain.

"I'm okay," she whispered.

James made a strange noise and hugged Olivia tightly, a smile plastered to his face.

Christmas at the Potters' was a huge celebration that year. The Potters and the Weasleys gathered together in pure happiness, not a care in the world. They laughed, exchanged presents, drank hot chocolate by the fireplace, and just enjoyed each other's company.

On the evening of Christmas, Harry withdrew himself from the group and stepped in to the kitchen, which smelled of freshly baked cookies. Looking around the room, Harry saw an assortment of pictures scattered all over. The pictures made Harry smile. There was a picture of James chasing Albus on a toy broom, Ginny and Lily beaming, their matching red hair as noticeable as ever, a picture of Ginny and Harry at their wedding, and several others.

"Harry?"

Harry turned to see Ginny looking at him, her eyes showing concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I just..." Harry trailed off, looking at the photos again.

"What is it, love?" asked Ginny, touching Harry's arm.

Harry turned to Ginny and put his hands on either side of her face and said, "Thank you."

Ginny giggled and asked, "For what?"

"For making this possible. I have a beautiful, happy family. I never thought it was possible. You proved me wrong."

Ginny smiled at Harry and kissed him.

"None of it would be possible if you hadn't fought for all of us. So, thank _you_."

Harry laughed and kissed his wife with no intention of stopping.

The End :)

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**I really appreciate all of you who followed this story. I'd love to write another! Anything you want me to write about? Harry Potter related or anything else, let me know!**


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